This Wasteland
by quinnfranc
Summary: My first crack at a mad max AU. i love max and furiosa so much i had to contribute something. I'm not sure how many chapters yet but i'm excited about it.


Chapter 1

Max is 6 when his mother, Splendid, passes away. She dies of a rare blood disorder. His father is devastated. He turns to alcohol, which makes him violent. Max is 7 the first time his father knocks him unconscious. His father starts AA that week. He meets a woman named Sparrow there, she likes heroin. They both get clean for some time. When Max is 10 his brother is born. His name is Nux. When Nux is 3 his mother leaves. Their father is devastated. He turns to alcohol, which makes him violent. Max starts working when he's 14; he saves every dime he makes. His father breaks Nux arm when he is 4 and Max pays the hospital bills. It costs every dime he's saved. The police do nothing to help the boys. When Max is 16 he drops out of and begins working at a garage. He saves every dime he makes. Their father holds down a job as a bartender. The owner tolerates his on-the-job drinking for the boys' sake. He is a good man, his name is Ace. He's tried to help their father, but he is too lost. When Max turns 18 he's saved enough money to start a new life for him and his brother. On the night of his 18th birthday they load Max's car and never look back.

"Where are we going Max?" Nux asks after a few hours in the car. Max looks over at his little brother; Nux is small for his age and he keeps his head buzzed, so that his father can't grab him by the hair, his cloths are baggy on him since most of them are hand me downs. Max reaches over and rubs Nuxs' head, "we're going to some small town called Citadel, it a few days drive". The brothers were silent for some time. "What's in Citadel?" Nux finally asks. "I got an apprenticeship at a garage. I'm finally going to get a chance to actually work on cars instead of just changing oil." Max said with a hint of excitement. Nux knew the excitement wasn't just about the job, because he felt it too. "Hey Max"? Max looked over to his brother, "Thanks" Nux said, Max smiled and turned back to the road.

The drive took 3 days, and although the boys were looking forward to their new lives, they were getting antsy to be done with their road trip. They pulled up to a gas station in Citadel around 11:30 pm to refuel. Max went inside to pay for the gas. He paused for a moment when he first saw the gas station attendant. She was about his age, her hair was shaved on the sides and a bit longer on top but still very short. She wore dark black eye shadow which drew Max's attention to her intense green eyes. He was so fixated on her striking face that he almost didn't notice that only one sleeve of her long black shirt was filled by an arm. The other sleeve was rolled up to her elbow, just above where her arm was missing. He walked up to the counter and looked at the girls name tag attached to her blue vest, _Furiousa_ he read. "Can I help you"? She asked, not sounding like she really cared. It took Max a minute to find his voice before he uttered a raspy "gas…pump 5" while handing her 40 dollars. She looked over him to see his car, a 1973 Ford Falcon Interceptor. She let out a loud whistle, "shit man, that's a good looking hunk of metal you got yourself. What is it, a 73?" Max was impressed. "Yeah I fixed her up myself." Furiousa nodded approvingly. "So are you just passing through this wasteland?" she asked. "No actually, I just got a job at the garage in town. My brother and I just got here." Furiousa smiled wide and shook her head. "You don't say." She said with the hint of a laugh in her voice. Max wrinkled his forehead "um yeah, are you familiar with Valkyrie's Garage?" Furiousa laughed again. "I should be. She's my mom." Max's face turned red and he dropped his gaze, "oh, I guess you would be than." One last faint laugh made its way from her gut. "You're going to be renting one of our places too right?" Max nodded. "Then I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other." She said. Max turned to leave. "It's Max right?" he heard her call from the counter. He turned back, "My mom told me she hired someone named Max." She said as to explain why she knew his name. Max grunted a response and gave her a sheepish thumbs up "See you 'round." He said as he exited the gas station.


End file.
